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Oscarman… Or (The Unexpected Winners of Oscar Ballots)

This was not my best year for Oscar predictions. But I tied with my Wifey and beat my daughter’s prediction… by 1. I got 12. Really not too bad for being an hour and a half from the closest movie theater…

I started at 2:30 when the pre-pre-show came on. Now, almost 7 hours of TV later, I’m here writing my blog post, letting you know how I did. I guessed 12 out of the 24 categories correctly. 50%. I enjoyed the hosting by Neil Patrick Harris. I was a little confused by Lady Gaga singing a medley that had nothing to do with any of the awards, including the next award presented: Best Score.

Following is a listing of the Academy Award winners from the night…

What I got right:

Best Animated Short: Feast

Best Sound Editing: American Sniper

Best Makeup & Hairstyling: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Original Song: “Glory” from Selma

Best Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Documentary Short: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Best Original Screenplay: Birdman

Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

Best Actress: Julianne Moore in Still Alice

Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman

Best Picture: Birdman

What I got wrong:

Best Live-Action Short: The Phone Call… (I guessed Aya)

Best Sound Mixing: Whiplash… (I guessed Interstellar)

Best Visual Effects: Interstellar… (I guessed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

Best Foreign Language Film: Ida… (I guessed Wild Tales)

Best Original Score: The Grand Budapest Hotel… (I guessed The Theory of Everything)

Best Cinematography: Birdman… (I guessed The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Best Documentary Feature: CITIZENFOUR… (I guessed The Salt of the Earth)

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything… (I guessed Michael Keaton in Birdman)

The Academy Awards are my Super Bowl. If I miss the big game, no big whoop. But if I miss the Oscars, we got problems. I mark it on my calendar weeks in advance. I try to see some of the films when possible. It really didn’t happen this year. But it didn’t stop me from watching the show. I’ve always wanted to go see it live. Even as a seat filler. I would so do that. But no. Not likely to happen from up here in Nowhere, Oregon.

After watching each year there a few that I want to see. This year I’d like to see Birdman, American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Selma. How about you? What Oscar film would you like to catch up on this year? Comment me!

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6 thoughts on “Oscarman… Or (The Unexpected Winners of Oscar Ballots)”

Most likely I wanna see Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Big Hero 6, The Theory of Everything and Into the Woods (yeah I know that last one did not win any, but it was nominated for three awards). But as usual I do not set aside a lot of time to go to the movies, for I am a bigger fan of Disney and musical theatre. In fact, Into the Woods and Big Hero 6 are the films I will like to catch up with the most, followed by Birdman and The Theory of Everything (for Broadway stars are in it).

Regarding the medley, I think this year it’s the Sound of Music’s 50th anniversary (1965) …

I never really watch award shows –I normally don’t care about the actors, actresses and main films, BUT I do like to see who wins awards like costume design, makeup, special effects, film score, best song, and of course, animated feature film!

I wrote a bit about animation nominees this year: http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/02/animation-award-season.html
But I was surprised (or not) that “BH6” won, since HTTYD2 had gotten the Golden Globe and Annie Award for animated feature film this year, the thing I thought would happen if HTTYD2 didn’t win was that the voters would go for the gorgeous 2D styled art of “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” or “The Song of the Sea” (seriously, go look at the trailers on my blog, they’re amazing), OR that they’d go for the quirky, stop-motioned animated “The Boxtrolls.” I’m even more curious to see BH6 now that it has won the Oscar –it better live up to it! 😉 Also, as much as I am a HTTYD fan … technically BH6 is a superhero movie (based on Marvel comics), so a SUPERHERO movie has won an Academy Award for best (animated) film (and that does make me happy)! =P

Costumes: I haven’t seen any of the movies nominated (“Maleficent” and “Into the Woods” are on my list), but I was still surprised to see “Grand Budapest Hotel” (GBH) take it. The costumes do seem to set the mood for that film though (there’s a touch of a theater look to the stylization, like it’s a play or show).

Makeup and Hair – I thought “Guardians of the Galaxy” would win over GBH, but apparently the voters are seeing something I’m not about that movie. =P

Soundtrack – I was able to listen to part of “The Theory of Everything” and thought it was beautiful (lots of piano, I noticed).

J.K. Simmons, I recognized from his voice over work on “The Legend of Korra” (I gotta catch up with that series), but I don’t think I’ve seen him in live action roles … other than the Spiderman trilogy. =P

Because I do like period dramas/historicals besides the others I mentioned earlier, I want to watch: The Theory of Everything, Selma, & The Imitation Game.

It sounds like you were definitely keeping up with the winners and losers. I was only sorta surprised that HTTYD2 didn’t win. It was a much more serious movie. But I guess BH6 had a lot of heavy material too.

Yep, I was waiting for the winners to be posted online, haha. I guess the good thing is HTTYD has a sequel in the works, so maybe the 3rd time will be the charm? I’m 20th or so on the request list for BH6 in my library system, so hopefully I can watch it soon!